Suns title would be everything for fans
We’re days away from the start of the NBA Finals, but a non-contender, the Phoenix “Owls,” have been among the hottest topics of discussion throughout the postseason:
“Who” is going to be the next Suns coach?
“Who” will the Suns take first overall?
“Who” could the Suns add in a trade or free agency?
Fowl jokes aside, the Phoenix Suns’ offseason has given us encouraging answers to big questions, and the remaining mysteries involve intriguing choices between multiple good options. The coincidence of General Manager Ryan McDonough’s turnaround plan ratcheting up as the season is winding down makes it easy to envision what playing into June could mean for a fan base that’s been among the NBA’s most patient.
Igor Kokoskov, a well-regarded NBA and international veteran, is in place as coach. The Suns have the top pick in a draft where Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic and Marvin Bagley III all look like impact players (we’ll take a deeper look into each prospect in the coming weeks). Karl-Anthony Towns and Kawhi Leonard could be available through trades. Aaron Gordon, Jabari Parker and Clint Capela make for realistic free agent targets. And McDonough can count on veterans Brandon Knight and Alan Williams to return from injury.
The Suns are poised to make a jump in a Western Conference where star players will start to decline over the next two or three seasons.
If all goes to plan – an admittedly inevitable caveat – Phoenix will be fighting for a playoff spot next year and looking to contend for championships in the years that follow.
Suns can make jump
Maybe it feels necessary to bottle some of the optimism. Other teams
(like the Lakers) will get better. And the Suns’ recent record has been abysmal. But quick turnarounds can happen.
The Suns made a 27-win jump in 1988-89 and a 33-win improvement in 2004-05, in each case going from speed bump to contender in one offseason. There have been several other 20-plus win improvements over the years around the NBA.
Such turnarounds typically involve free-agent signings (Tom Chambers and Steve Nash), a player returning from injury (Dwyane Wade helping Miami improve by 28 games in 2008-09) or a big-time draft pick (Carmelo Anthony giving Denver a 26-game boost in 200304 or James Harden helping Oklahoma City get better by 27 games in 2009-10).
McDonough has the Suns poised to draw from each talent pool.
For fans who have been here since the beginning, this type of outlook is a welcome return.
The Suns have been 110 games below .500 the last three years, and the last time they made the playoffs, “Lost” was on the air.
But the franchise was once as proud as any other, so good that even with the recent futility, Phoenix still has one of the best records in the NBA since entering the league in the 1968-69 season.
Only the Lakers, Celtics and Sonics/ Thunder franchises have more wins than the Suns in that span.
But underscoring the Phoenix frustration, every other team in the top 10 has an NBA title.
Without-a-title wasteland
Among NBA fan bases that are without championships, Phoenix has the best case for the most agonized.
Fans in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Denver, Indiana, Los Angeles (Clippers), Memphis, Minnesota, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Sacramento, Toronto and Utah are with Phoenix in never raising a banner.
But most of these teams have been in their towns for fewer than 30 years, and the Clippers and Nets play in cities that have won championships with other squads.
The Pacers and Nuggets each are one
year older than the Suns but were ABA franchises for their first nine seasons. Indiana won three championships with the red, white and blue ball. Denver has no titles of any sort and hasn’t been particularly close, with no NBA Finals appearances.
The Hawks moved to Atlanta the same year Phoenix joined the league. They had been in St. Louis where they won a title in 1958. Since becoming ATLiens, the Hawks have advanced as far as the conference finals only once.
The Kings, meanwhile, have been through five states and two names since their last championship, as the Rochester (N.Y.) Royals in 1951.
The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City from New Orleans in 1978, and the franchise actually has a better winning percentage than the Suns. The Jazz are .538 in 44 seasons, good for fifth. The Suns are .535 over 50 seasons, tied with Portland for seventh.
But Utah had only one window to win a championship. In the ’90s, the Jazz went to the conference finals five times in seven seasons, including consecutive NBA Finals losses to the Chicago Bulls.
Phoenix, however, has been painfully close in several decades, making at least the conference finals nine times and the NBA Finals twice.
The 1975-76 Suns lost the NBA Finals to the Celtics in six games. That series included “the greatest game ever,” the three-overtime slog that the Celtics won 128-126.
Cotton Fitzsimmons guided teams to consecutive West finals in 1989 and 1990.
Charles Barkley’s 1992-93 team lost in the NBA Finals to the Bulls in six games, but the squad was so popular that 300,000 people showed up for a parade anyway.
And the Nash-led “7 Seconds or Less” teams made the conference finals three times and won 60 games twice in the 2000’s.
Suns fans know success, but not at its highest level.
Phoenix isn’t close right now. McDonough has them poised to see the playoffs – and eventually championship contention – from here.
It’s a great place to be, and “owl” bet a Phoenix Suns championship would be the biggest goodwill story in the NBA.